Zoa
Zoa Morani after the failure of her debut film Always Kabhi Kabhi is gearing up for her next release Bhaag Johnny
Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 6, 2015)

Zoa Morani, who made her debut in Always Kabhi Kabhi, vanished from the scene after the film failed at the box office. There was talk about her doing a Shyam Benegal film, but even that fizzled out. Later, she went through some personal trauma when her father Karim Morani, who manages an event company, was embroiled in the 2G scam case. “That was a difficult time,” she says. However, Zoa has put all that behind her and is gearing up for her second film Bhaag Johnny that releases next month.

You made your debut four years ago, but have been missing since then...
I had a dream debut with Shah Rukh Khan (close friend of her father) producing my film Always Kabhi Kabhi. However, the film didn’t do well, so I had to start from scratch. I started doing theatre. For the past couple of years I have been busy staging plays like Panchatantra written by Gulzar and Taj Mahal Ka Udghatan. I also took up Asthang Yoga, which is spiritual yoga. It helped me get over my dark phase. If not for that I wouldn’t have managed to pull it off.

What happened to the film you were to do with Shyam Benegal?
Something weird happened with that. At that time I was shuttling between Mumbai and Delhi and in between I gave an audition for a film that was to be directed by Shyam Benegal. It went well and Benegal said he liked it. I had acted like a Haryanvi girl and Benegal was impressed that despite being a Mumbai girl, I had done so well. After that I got a call from the producer who first told me I was shortlisted and later that I got the film. Later, I heard that Benegal hadn’t given a go-ahead. Till date, I don’t know what the truth is!

Now that your second film is up for release, you must be banking on it.
The film has shaped out really well. It’s an action thriller and is about two people running parallel lives. But it’s not a double role. When I heard the story, I knew it was a complicated and tough role. It is all about karma and how a right and wrong decision has its own repercussions. It is so different from my debut film in which I played a school girl. Here there are a lot of intense scenes and action, it’s a mature role. I must say my director Shivam Nair and co-star Kunal Kemmu helped me a lot. I am looking forward to the response to this film.